Yesterday's Opinions: Attorney suspension, ESL at L&I, and hard drive evidence
In Re Discipline of Terry J. Preszler, No. 200,570-5. Attorney Terry Preszler represented a couple in a bankruptcy. He failed to navigate correctly some of the rules related to a personal injury settlement, and was not forthright when he discovered his mistakes. The Washington State Bar Association alleged 17 counts of misconduct by Preszler and the Association's Disciplinary Board found that he had violated five and recommended a three-year suspension from the practice of law. Preszler challenges the Board's determination on several issues.
The Court upholds the Board on most points and imposes the suspension. Justice Fairhurst writes for the majority and is joined by five other justices. Justice Sanders, joined by Justices Chambers and James Johnson, dissents and would give greater weight to the mitigating factors and reduce the suspension. (briefs and argument)
Kustura v. Department of Labor, No. 81478-3. Several 
persons with "limited English proficiency" appealed determinations by the Department of Labor and Industries, and included in their claims a demand that the Department provide them with interpreters for all interactions with the Department. RCW 2.43.040 grants persons with limited English proficiency the right to translation services paid for by taxpayers where the government has instituted a legal proceeding.
Here, the Court upholds the Court of Appeals, which determined that the Department did not initiate the proceedings. It further casts doubt on whether the Department's proceedings here qualify as legal proceedings under the RCW. Justice James Johnson authored the Court's opinion, in which six other justices concurred. Justice Chambers, joined by Justice Sanders, dissents. (briefs and argument)
State v. Grenning, No. 81449-0. Neil Grenning was charged with 72 sex crimes, including 20 counts of possession of child pornography related to pictures found on his computer hard drives. The trial judge, at the request of the prosecutors, issued a restrictive order preventing copies of the hard drives from being turned over to the defense, though the defense was provided with access to them. .png){kind=icon}
Potential defense expert witnesses apparently refused to investigate the hard drives without the ability to take them to their own computer laboratories, and the defense did not present an expert witness regarding the hard drives at trial.
Grenning was convicted on all but one of the charges, including all of the instances of child pornography, and sentenced to 117 years in prison. He appealed, challenging the limitations placed on the hard drive evidence. The Court of Appeals agreed with Grenning and ordered a new trial for the child pornography charges; the state appealed.
The Court here upholds the Court of Appeals. In an opinion by Justice Chambers and joined by five other justices, the Court finds that its decision in State v. Boyd, "which held that the defense was entitled to a mirror image copy of the defendant's computer hard drives," controls the outcome here. Justice Madsen, joined by Justices Alexander and James Johnson, dissent and "disagree with the majority's recitation of the facts, its legal analysis, and its result." (briefs and argument)
